beaconsfield

Beaconsfield's historian, Dorothy Pilkington, writes of an auction for township sections held on 30 November 1877. Prospective buyers were lubricated by a champagne lunch, after which lots covering about 7 acres (3 hectares) were sold, for up to £18 per acre for a corner section. But the town never developed. A high cliff by the Kiwitea stream was an unwelcome feature of the planned main street. Most town sections eventually became part of farms.